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Hi, I just wanted to know how you felt when you first started feeling when your were capable of "blending-in" and of bieng "fluid". How hard was it for you. I know this is a process done through training and training... and yes, some more training!! Did you do any personal tricks or follow some advice also?
For me bieng capable of "blending-in" and of bieng "fluid" is a major struggle. I used to train kyokushin so I am very rigid, also my kamae is off, I tend to stand presenting the minimum front (don't know the thechnical term??) so my left ukemi sometimes comes crooked... But that's what training is for!
Regards
Gabriel

Try to imagine yourself as being made of water. Watch how water flows around and between obstacles in it's path. Now try to imagine yourself "flowing" like water into the opening, "hole", and/or space left by Nage.

...I don't know about any personal tricks ...but you could turn this whole thing around and use your past training by employing atemi to get your attacker to soften up & blend with you instead! I know many aikido-ka of softer styles will gasp at this response, but you have to go with what works for YOU! ...hey, give it a try!

Quote:

Gabriel Arias wrote:

Did you do any personal tricks or follow some advice also? For me bieng capable of "blending-in" and of bieng "fluid" is a major struggle. I used to train kyokushin so I am very rigid...

Brian Vickery

"The highest level of technique to achieve is that of having NO technique!"

My teacher, a Japanese 7th dan, makes the connection explicitly in the middle of demonstrating. He said: "Is like dancing: 'Shall we dance, shall we dance, shall we dance?'" to the tune from The King and I. He was demonstrating a henkawaza from ryotedori tenchi nage to udekime and wanted to stress that the transition had to be smooth, like dancing. One day I will rewrite the lyrics of Shall We Dance to make it about aikido, it will give me something to hum while practicing.

in our dojo we do exercises sometimes that is just striking and blocking and stiking and blocking and while we are doing that with our arms we are doing a 90 degree turn(tenkan) with our legs corresponging to which arm we are striking with, and we do that until both the people feel very comfortable with the movement and then we move on to something more complicated

The biggest thing to remember is to have a blank mind. Not an empty mind, but to not think about your motions as you run through them. Focus solely on existing now. Any other thoughts will distract you. If you are stressed and stiff or rigid, your tech will suffer.

As to how exactly you accomplish this... I guess it just takes time. I suggest taking at least 20 minutes to stretch and meditate before every class. You may consider taking Tai Chi as a supplement to help you develop your balance and fluidity.